Copyright 2004, Roadracing World Publishing, Inc.

Proton Team KR Team Manager Chuck Aksland confirmed to Dorna Sports Wednesday that Kurtis Roberts and Nobuatsu Aoki would be the riders for the team in the 2004 MotoGP World Championship, but this was far from news to Roberts.

“I’ve known since before Valencia, as in the GP (November 2), so it’s nothing new to me,” Roberts told Roadracingworld.com. Roberts said he talked to Ducati and “some other satellite” teams, all in MotoGP, but going with his father’s team was his plan all along.

“I don’t even know what I’m making, I don’t even know what my contract reads and all that, and I don’t care. I’ve wanted to do this from day one. Unless something unbelievable came along, this is kind of what I planned on doing,” said Roberts.

Aksland told Dorna that a decision on what brand of tires the team would use is “still up in the air” between Dunlop and Michelin, but which brand of tires he rides on matters to Roberts.

“Tires of course do (matter) because it’s kind of tough to have too many blocks stacked up against you. It would be nice if we didn’t have to be behind in every category and then tires on top of that, you know?” said Roberts, before expressing his preference to ride on Michelins. “There is only one tire in MotoGP right now, I feel.”

Team KR will not test again until late February at Jerez, according to Roberts. At that time, the team is expected to have completed significant revisions to its 990cc V5 four-stroke engine and chassis for the 2004 season.